PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - What does a flight manual look like and how much does it weigh?
Old 19th April 2012 | 17:19
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Denti
 
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,562
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From: I wouldn't know.
We used to carry a normal complement of manuals, which meant one OM-A, OM-B I/II/III, OM-D, two QRH, two binder with jeppesen airport booklets for our normal destinations and alternates and two full jeppesen route manuals for europe and northern africra, and of course two performance weight chart books. Additionally a forms binder, tech log and technical documentation in one binder (all dents, the complete maintenance history and so on), and another binder with all certificates and regulatory papers as well as an AFM. All in all around 40 to 50 kg of paper.

We got rid of that around eight or nine years ago and since then do not carry any paper charts at all, nor any AFM, any OMs and so on. We still have the tech-log/technical documentation binder, the regulatory information binder and a forms binder as well as two QRHs. The rest is available electronically on two windows based tablet PCs, in the beginning HP slates which were nice and light weight but broke easily which have since been replaced with two generations of military grade pen tablet PCs (EFB Class I). We are currently in the process of introducing fixed installations of EFB II computers which interface with the aircraft systems.

If it were not for a regulatory demand to save OFPs on paper we would not use any paper information during normal operation, however we have to print that out before flight and take it on board, the rest of the briefing package is saved on an USB stick and available via the EFBs. The same USB thumb drive has a full update set to bring any new EFB up to date and is the source of EFB updating at least once each week.

All in all we save at least 30 to 40 kg of weight with those changes which translates in our airline business to fuel savings of several tens of millions euro per year.
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